Home appliance and refrigerator

ABSTRACT

A home appliance includes a cabinet having a space, a door configured to open and close the space and including a light source, an illuminance sensor provided in the cabinet or the door and configured to detect illuminance, a user detection sensor provided in the cabinet or the door and configured to detect user proximity, and a controller configured to control the light source based on information detected by the user detection sensor, wherein, when a user is detected to approach the home appliance within a reference distance by the user detection sensor, the controller controls the light source of the door to be changed from a first state to a second state, and the reference distance is changeable based on one or more of an illuminance and current time detected by the illuminance sensor.

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

The present application claims priority under 35 U.S.C. 119 and 35U.S.C. 365 to Korean Patent Application No. 10-2021-0146677, filed onOct. 29, 2021, which is hereby incorporated by reference in itsentirety.

TECHNICAL FIELD

The present disclosure relates to a home appliance and a refrigerator.

BACKGROUND

In general, a refrigerator is a home appliance for storing foods in aninternal storage space, which is shield by a refrigerator door, at a lowtemperature by low temperature air. The refrigerator cools the inside ofthe storage space using cool air generated by heat-exchanging with arefrigerant that circulates a cooling cycle to store the foods in anoptimum state.

Such refrigerators tend to increase more and more in size and providemulti-functions due to the trends of change of dietary life and highquality, and accordingly, refrigerators provided with various structuresand convenience devices in consideration of user convenience are broughtto the market.

In order to harmonize with an environment in which the refrigerator isdisposed or with surrounding furniture or home appliances, technologiesstructures for varying an outer appearance of a door front of therefrigerator are developed, and this trend is the same throughout thehome appliance.

U.S. Pat. No. 8,789,900 (Cited Reference 1) discloses a structure inwhich a decoration panel forming an outer appearance is installed on adoor front of a refrigerator, and here, the outer appearance of the doorfront is formed according to a user's preference by detachablyconfiguring the decoration panel.

However, the refrigerator of the Cited Reference 1 has a problem inthat, when a user wants to change the outer appearance, the entiredecoration panel needs to be removed and replaced, and it is notpossible to use the decoration panel before replacement any longer.

To solve this limitation, Chinese Patent Application No. 103250018(Cited Reference 2) discloses a refrigerator in which a reflective layerand a transparent panel are disposed on a door front and colored lightemitting members are mounted on both side ends of the reflective layerto cause the transparent panel to glow with set color.

However, in the Cited Reference 2, since the light emitting member isdisposed further inside the panel defining the front surface of thedoor, shadows are generated at both ends of the door during an operationof the light emitting member to cause a poor outer appearance.

Korean Patent Publication No. 10-0820355 (Cited Reference 3) disclosesan LED driving device considering external illuminance.

Cited Reference 3 discloses a technology for measuring an illuminancevalue by detecting the intensity of external light in an illuminancesensor, and controlling the brightness of light emitted from an LEDpanel according to the measured illuminance value.

However, Cited Reference 3 discloses a technology for controlling thebrightness of light using only the illuminance value without consideringa relationship with a user.

SUMMARY

The present embodiment provides a refrigerator and a home appliance forchanging the state of the refrigerator and changing a reference distancefor detecting a user based on a detected illuminance value when the userapproaches the refrigerator within the reference distance.

Optionally or additionally, the present embodiment provides arefrigerator and a home appliance for varying a door for generatinglight among a plurality of doors according to an illuminance.

Optionally or additionally, the present embodiment provides arefrigerator and a home appliance for controlling a light sourceaccording to an illuminance and a current time.

According to an aspect, a home appliance may include a cabinet having aspace, and a door configured to open and dose the space.

The door may include a light source.

The home appliance may include an illuminance sensor provided in thecabinet or the door and configured to detect illuminance.

The home appliance may further include a user detection sensor providedin the cabinet or the door and configured to detect user proximity.

The home appliance may further include a controller configured tocontrol the light source based on information detected by the userdetection sensor.

The light source may include a plurality of LEDs.

When a user is detected to approach the home appliance within areference distance by the user detection sensor, the controller maycontrol the light source of the door to be changed from a first state toa second state.

The reference distance may be set to be changeable based on one or moreof an illuminance and current time detected by the illuminance sensor.

When an illuminance value detected by the illuminance sensor is equal toor greater than a reference illuminance value, the reference distancemay be set to a first reference distance.

When the illuminance value detected by the illuminance sensor is lessthan the reference illuminance value, the reference distance may be setto a second reference distance longer than the first reference distance.

The reference illuminance value may be manually set in the homeappliance, or may be set in a remote device, The reference illuminancevalue may be received from the remote device through a communicator, andmay be stored in a memory of the home appliance.

When the current time satisfies a first time range, the referencedistance may be set to a first reference distance. When the current timesatisfies a second time range, the reference distance may be set to alonger second reference distance than the first reference distance.

The controller may determine an operation mode of the home appliancebased on a current time and an illuminance detected by the illuminancesensor.

When the current time satisfies a first time range and a detectedilluminance value satisfies a first illuminance range, the controllermay set an operation mode of the home appliance to a first operationmode,

When the current time satisfies the first time range and the detectedilluminance value satisfies a second illuminance range, the controllermay set the operation mode of the home appliance to a second operationmode.

Brightness of light emitted from the light source when the light sourceis turned on in the first operation mode may be set to a first value.Brightness of light emitted from the light source when the light sourceis turned on in the second operation mode may be set to a second value.

A number of LEDs that are turned on in the first operation mode may beset to a first number. A number of LEDs that are turned on in the secondoperation mode may be set to a second number.

An illuminance value of the second illuminance range may be smaller thanan illuminance value of the first illuminance range. The second valuemay be smaller than the first value, and the second number is smallerthan the first number.

When a current time satisfies a second time range and a detectedilluminance value satisfies the first illuminance range, the controllermay set an operation mode of the home appliance to a third operationmode.

When the current time satisfies the second time range and the detectedilluminance value satisfies the second illuminance range, the controllermay set the operation mode of the home appliance to a fourth operationmode.

Brightness of light emitted from the light source when the light sourceis turned on in the first operation mode may be set to a third value.Brightness of light emitted from the light source when the light sourceis turned on in the fourth operation mode may be set to a fourth value.

A number of LEDs that are turned on in the third operation mode may beset to a third number. A number of LEDs that are turned on in the fourthoperation mode may be set to a fourth number.

The third value may be equal to or smaller than the first value. Thefourth value may be smaller than the second value and the third value.

The third number may be equal to or smaller than the first number.

The fourth number may be smaller than the second number and the thirdnumber.

A number of LEDs that are turned on or brightness of light emitted froma light source that is turned on may be manually set in a homeappliance, or may be set in a remote device, may be received from theremote device through a communicator, and may be stored in a memory ofthe home appliance.

The door may include a plurality of doors.

When the current time satisfies the first time range or the detectedilluminance value satisfies the first illuminance range, if a user isdetected to approach the home appliance within a first referencedistance by the user detection sensor, the controller may control thelight source of each of the plurality of doors to be changed from afirst state to a second state.

After the light source is changed from the first state to the secondstate, when the user is not detected to approach the home appliancewithin the first reference distance by the user detection sensor, astate of the light source may be changed to a previous state.

When the current time satisfies the second time range or the detectedilluminance value satisfies the second illuminance range, if a user isdetected to approach the home appliance within a second referencedistance by the user detection sensor, the controller may control thelight source of some of the plurality of doors to be changed from afirst state to a second state.

After the light source of some of the plurality of doors is changed fromthe first state to the second state, when the user is detected toapproach the home appliance within a smaller third reference distancethan the second reference distance by the user detection sensor, thecontroller may control the light source of remaining doors of theplurality of doors to be changed from the first state to the secondstate.

The plurality of doors may include an upper door and a lower door, andthe some doors may be lower doors and remaining doors are upper doors.

After the light source of each of the plurality of doors is changed fromthe first state to the second state, when the user is detected to befarther away from the home appliance than the second reference distanceby the user detection sensor, a state of the light source may be changedto a previous state.

The home appliance may further include a motion sensor configured todetect a movement of an object on a floor on which the cabinet isplaced.

In a state in which an illuminance value detected by the illuminancesensor is less than a reference illuminance value, when a movement ofmore than a set number of times is detected by the motion sensor, thecontroller may control the light source to be changed from the firststate to a second state for a set time.

The first state may be an off state of the light source, and the secondstate may be an on state of the light source.

The first state may be a state in which the light source is turned on toemit light with first color. The second state may be a state in whichthe light source is turned on to emit light with second color.

According to another aspect, a refrigerator may include a cabinet havinga storage room, a plurality of doors configured to open and close thestorage room, at least one of the doors including a light source, anilluminance sensor configured to detect illuminance, a user detectionsensor configured to detect user proximity, and a controller configuredto control the light source based on information detected by the userdetection sensor.

When a user is detected to approach the refrigerator within a referencedistance by the user detection sensor, the controller may control thelight source of one or more of the plurality of doors to be changed froma first state to a second state.

The reference distance may be set to be changeable based on anilluminance detected by the illuminance sensor.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 is a front view of a refrigerator according to an embodiment ofthe present disclosure.

FIG. 2 is a perspective view of a refrigerator door according to anembodiment present disclosure.

FIG. 3 is a view illustrating a state in which a panel assembly isseparated from the refrigerator door.

FIG. 4 is a cross-sectional view taken along line 4-4 of FIG. 3 .

FIG. 5 is a view illustrating arrangement of a light guide plate and alight source.

FIG. 6 is a vertical cross-sectional view showing a light emitting stateof the panel assembly.

FIG. 7 is a block diagram illustrating a flow of a control signal of therefrigerator.

FIG. 8 is a view illustrating a state in which all doors glow in arefrigerator.

FIG. 9 is a view illustrating a state in which some doors of a pluralityof doors glow.

FIG. 10 is a flowchart for explaining a control method of differentlysetting a reference distance according to illuminance according to thepresent embodiment.

FIG. 11 is a flowchart for explaining a method of setting an operationmode according to illuminance and current time according to the presentembodiment.

FIG. 12 is a flowchart for explaining a method of controlling arefrigerator during an operation in a first operation mode or a secondoperation mode.

FIG. 13 is a flowchart for explaining a method of controlling arefrigerator during an operation in a third operation mode or a fourthoperation mode.

FIG. 14 is a diagram for explaining a method of controlling arefrigerator according to motion detection of a motion sensor when therefrigerator operates in the third operation mode or the fourthoperation mode.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

Hereinafter, detailed embodiments will be described in detail withreference to the accompanying drawings. However, the present disclosureis limited to the embodiments in which the spirit of the presentdisclosure is proposed, and other degenerate idea or other embodimentsincluded in the scope of the present disclosure may be easily proposedby addition, changes, deletions, etc. of other elements.

Hereinafter, a refrigerator will be described as an example of a homeappliance, but the description of the refrigerator according to thepresent disclosure may be applied to various home appliances including acabinet having a space therein and a door configured to open and closethe space The home appliance may include, for example, an airconditioner, a clothes manager, a washing machine, a dryer, a dishwashing machine, a cooking appliance, and the like.

Furthermore, a home appliance according to the present disclosure is notlimited to a home appliance in which an inner space of a cabinet isopened and closed, and it is to be noted that the home applianceaccording to the present disclosure is also applicable to a homeappliance in which an inner space of a cabinet is not opened and dosed.

Prior to a description, directions are defined. In an embodiment of thepresent disclosure, a direction toward a door is defined as a frontdirection with respect to a cabinet shown in FIGS. 1 and 2 , a directiontoward the cabinet with respect to the door is defined as a reardirection, a direction toward a bottom on which a refrigerator isinstalled is defined as a downward direction, and a direction away fromthe bottom is defined as an upward direction.

FIG. 1 is a perspective view of a refrigerator according to anembodiment.

Referring to FIGS. 1 , a refrigerator 1 according to an embodiment ofthe present disclosure may include a cabinet 10 defining a storage space(or storage section) and a door 20 for opening and dosing the storagespace of the cabinet 10.

For example, the cabinet 10 may form the storage space partitioned in avertical direction, a refrigerating compartment may be formed at anupper portion, and a freezing compartment may be formed at a lowerportion. The refrigerating compartment may be referred to as an upperstorage space, and the freezing compartment may be referred to as alower storage space.

The door 20 may open and close each of the refrigerating compartment andthe freezing compartment. For example, the door 20 may be rotatablymounted on the cabinet 10, and the refrigerating compartment and thefreezing compartment may each be opened and closed by rotation.Alternatively, the door 20 may be configured to open and close therefrigerating compartment and/or the freezing compartment by being drawnin and out.

The door 20 may include a refrigerating compartment door 201 for openingand closing the refrigerating compartment and a freezing compartmentdoor 202 for opening and closing the freezing compartment. Therefrigerating compartment door 201 may be referred to as an upper door,and the freezing compartment door 202 may be referred to as a lowerdoor.

The refrigerating compartment door 201 may include a pair of a leftrefrigerating compartment door and a right refrigerating compartmentdoor that are arranged side by side. The left refrigerating compartmentdoor and the right refrigerating compartment door may open and close therefrigerating compartment while being independently rotated. The leftrefrigerating compartment door and the right refrigerating compartmentdoor may be disposed adjacent to each other and may have the same size.

The freezing compartment door 202 may include a pair of a left freezingcompartment door and a right freezing compartment door that are arrangedside by side. The left freezing compartment door and the right freezingcompartment door may open and close the freezing compartment while beingindependently rotated. The left freezing compartment door and the rightfreezing compartment door may be disposed adjacent to each other and mayhave the same size.

Needless to say, although a refrigerator having a structure in which therefrigerating compartment is defined above the freezing compartment isdescribed as an example in this embodiment, the present disclosure maybe applied to all types of refrigerators equipped with a door withoutbeing limited to a type of a refrigerator.

An outer appearance of the front surface of the refrigerator 1 may beformed in the state in which the door 20 is closed and may form the outappearance of the refrigerator 1 viewed from the front in the state inwhich the refrigerator 1 is installed.

The door 20 may have a structure in which a front surface selectivelyemits light and may be configured to glow with set color or brightness.Thus, a user may change front color or brightness of the door 20 withoutseparating or disassembling the door 20 and may change the overall outerappearance of the refrigerator 1.

Hereinafter, the structure of the door 20 will be described in detailwith reference to drawings.

FIG. 2 is a perspective view of a refrigerator door according to anembodiment present disclosure. FIG. 3 is a view illustrating a state inwhich a panel assembly is separated from the refrigerator door.

As illustrated in FIGS. 2 and 3 , the door 20 may include a door body 21forming the overall shape of the door 20, and a panel assembly 30forming a front appearance of the door 20. That is, the door 20 may beconfigured in such a way that the panel assembly 30 is mounted on afront surface of the door body 40.

The door body 40 may include a body plate 41 defining a front surfaceand a door liner 42 defining a, rear surface.

The body plate 41 may be formed of a metal material and may be formed ina plate shape having a size corresponding to the panel assembly 30. Thedoor liner 42 may be formed of a plastic material and may form a bottomshape of the door 20.

The door body 40 may further include a side decoration 44 forming rightand left side surfaces of the door body 21. The side decoration 44 mayconnect right and left side ends of the body plate 41 and right and leftside ends of the door liner 42.

The door body 40 may include an upper cap decoration 43 and a lower capdecoration 45 that form top and bottom surfaces of the door body 40. Theupper cap decoration 43 may be connected to an upper end of the sidedecoration 44, an upper end of the body plate 41, and an upper end ofthe door liner 42. The lower cap decoration 45 may be connected to alower end of the side decoration 44, a lower end of the body plate 41,and a lower end of the door liner 42.

An outer appearance of the door body 40 may be formed by the body plate41, the door liner 42. the side decoration 44, the upper cap decoration43, and the lower cap decoration 45.

An insulator may be filled in an internal space of the door body 40,which is formed by coupling the body plate 41, the door liner 42, theside decoration 44, the upper cap decoration 43, and the lower capdecoration 45, and may provide an insulation structure to prevent heatfrom being transferred through the door 20. The insulator may be formed,for example, as a time elapses after a foaming liquid is filled. Thedoor body 40 may be provided with an injection hole for filling thefoaming liquid.

An opened forward panel receiving space 410 may be formed on a frontsurface of the door body 40. That is, front ends of the side decoration44, the upper cap decoration 43, and the lower cap decoration 45 mayprotrude more forward than the front surface of the body plate 41.

A panel receiving space 410 that is opened forward may be defined at afront side of the door body 40. The panel receiving space 410 may beformed with a size corresponding to the size of the panel assembly 30and the panel assembly 30 may be inserted into the panel receiving space410, A circumference of the panel assembly 30 may be supported by acircumferential surface of the panel receiving space 410, that is,protruding portions of the side decoration 44, the upper cap decoration43, and the lower cap decoration 45.

The panel assembly 30 may be formed in a plate shape as a whole and maybe formed with a size corresponding to a front surface of the door body40. Thus, when the panel assembly 30 is mounted on the front surface ofthe door body 40, the panel assembly 30 may shield the front surface ofthe door body 40 and may form an outer appearance of the front surfaceof the door 20. Since the panel assembly 30 may form the outerappearance of the front surface of the door 20, the panel assembly 30may be referred to as a door panel, and since the panel assembly 30 mayform the outer appearance of the front surface of the refrigerator 1,the panel assembly 30 may also be referred to as an exterior panel.

In the state in which the panel assembly 30 is mounted on the door body40, a rear surface of the panel assembly 30 may be fixed in contact withthe body plate 41. To fixedly mount the panel assembly 30, a lower endof the panel assembly 30 may be caught and restrained with a lower endof the lower cap decoration 45, and an upper end of the panel assembly30 may be coupled to an upper end of a front surface of the upper capdecoration 43 to firmly couple the panel assembly 30 to the door body40. The panel assembly 30 may be detachably mounted from the door body40 for services and maintenance.

A front surface of the panel assembly 30 may be exposed forward in thestate in which the panel assembly 30 is mounted on the door body 40, andthe panel assembly 30 may substantially form the outer appearance of thefront surface of the door 20. The panel assembly 30 may be configured toemit light from an entire front thereof and may be configured to glowwith various colors.

To this end, a lighting device 36 may be provided inside the panelassembly 30. A wire (not shown) may be connected to the lighting device36 in order to supply and control power, The wire (not shown) may beexposed outside the rear surface of the panel assembly 30, and aconnector (not shown) may be provided on an end of the wire (not shown).

A structure connected to the connector of the wire to supply power tothe lighting device 36 may be provided on a front surface of the doorbody 40.

Hereinafter, the structure of the panel assembly 30 will be described inmore detail with reference to drawings.

FIG. 4 is a cross-sectional view taken along line 4-4 of FIG. 3 . FIG. 5is a view illustrating arrangement of a light guide plate and a lightsource.

Referring to FIGS. 4 and 5 , the panel assembly 30 may include a frontplate 31 forming an outer appearance of the front surface, the lightingdevice 36 for emitting light to cause the front plate 31 to glow, alight guide plate 33 for guiding the light emitted from the lightingdevice 36, and a diffusion member 32 allowing the light guide plate 33to be spaced apart from the front plate 31 and diffusing the light. Thediffusion member 32 may also be referred to as a support member in termsof supporting the light guide plate 33.

The lighting device 36 and the light guide plate 33 may be mounted orsupported on the diffusion member 32.

The panel assembly 30 may further include a back cover 39 defining arear surface of the panel assembly 30.

The front plate 31 may be formed in a rectangular plate shape and may beformed of a material that transmits light therethrough. For example thefront plate 31 may be formed of a glass material such as blue glass,white glass, and vapor deposition glass or may be formed of othermaterials for transmitting light therethrough, such as ABS, PMMA, or PC.The front plate 31 may be referred to as a transparent plate or an outplate.

The front plate 31 may be formed to be transparent to allow lightreflected by the light guide plate 33 to be transmitted. In this case,transparency may be defined to a degree to which light reflected fromthe light guide plate is transmitted and irradiated to the outside.

The front plate 31 may be formed to have color and may be formed torepresent different colors depending on an operation or on and offstates of the lighting device 36. For example, a specific design orpattern may be printed on the front plate 31 to have specific color. Afilm with a specific design or pattern printed thereon may be added tothe front plate 31, surface treatment such as imprinting, etching, andglass printing may be performed on the front plate 31, or a coating ordeposition layer having specific color and texture may be formed to forman outer appearance of the front plate 31.

The front plate 31 may be configured to transmit light emitted from thelighting device 36 but components behind the front plate 31 may not beseen therethrough. That is, in the state in which the lighting device 36is turned off, components inside the panel assembly 30 may be preventedfrom being seen to the outside through the front plate 31 due to thecolor of the front plate 31.

In this case, a color layer having color may be formed on the frontplate 31. In an off state, the color layer may be formed to have atleast color having brightness equal to or greater than 0 other thanblack. That is, in a state in which the refrigerator 1 is installed, thefront surface of the refrigerator 1 may be displayed in a color otherthan black, and the front color of the refrigerator may be changedaccording to an operation of the lighting device 36.

In the panel assembly 30, the entire front surface of the front plate 31may be exposed to the outside. Thus, the light diffused by the diffusionmember 32 may be transmitted through the front plate 31 as a whole, andthus, the entire front surface of the front plate 31 may glow.

A rear surface of he front plate 31 may be coupled to a front surface ofthe diffusion member 32.

The light guide plate 33 may be positioned at a rear spaced apart fromthe front plate 31 by the diffusion member 32 and may be configured toguide light emitted from the lighting device 36 disposed at the upperend of the light guide plate 33 forward.

For example, the light guide plate 33 may be formed of transparentacrylic, plastic, or a transparent polymer material. The light guideplate 33 may have a diffusing agent added thereto for diffusing lightentrance on the light guide plate 33 or a pattern for diffusing lightmay be further formed on the light guide plate 33. Thus, light may betransferred to the front plate 31 by the light guide plate 33, and inthis case, a pattern of the light guide plate 33 may be set to cause theentire front surface of the front plate 31 to glow with uniformbrightness.

A load of the light guide plate 33 may be supported by the diffusionmember 32 and a front surface of the light guide plate 33 may be pressedtoward the diffusion member 32 by the back cover 39.

The diffusion member 2 may be disposed between the front plate 31 andthe light guide plate 33. The diffusion member 32 may allow the lightguide plate 33 to be maintained at a predetermined distance from thefront plate 31 and may diffuse light emitted from the light emissionsurface of the light guide plate 33.

The front surface of the diffusion member 32 may support the front plate31 and opposite side surfaces of the diffusion member 32 may restrainboth ends of the light guide plate 33. The front surface of thediffusion member 32 may have a size greater than or equal to that of thelight guide plate 33, and in the state in which the light guide plate 33is mounted, the rear surface of the diffusion member 32 and the lightguide plate 33 may be maintained in the state of being in surfacecontact with each other.

The diffusion member 32 may include a plate-shaped front surface portion321, on which the front plate 31 is mounted, and an extension portionextending from a circumference of the front surface portion 321. Thefront surface portion 321 and the extension portion may define anaccommodation space 320a in which the light guide plate 33 is disposed.

The extension portion is disposed to cover the circumference of thelight guide plate 33. The circumference of the light guide plate 33 mayinclude, for example, a top surface, a bottom surface, and both sidesurfaces.

For example, the extension portion may include an upper extensionportion 322 extending from an upper end of a rear surface of the frontsurface portion 321, a lower extension portion 324 extending from alower end of the rear surface of the front surface portion 321, and apair of side surface portions extending from both left and right ends ofthe front surface portion 321.

The upper extension portion 322, the lower extension portion 324, andthe pair of side surface portions may define the accommodation space320a in which the light guide plate 33 is disposed. Thus, the diffusionmember 32 not only serves to diffuse light, but also serves toaccommodate and support the light guide plate 33.

The front surface portion 321 may be formed like a plate correspondingto the front plate 31, and a front surface of the light guide plate 33may be in dose contact with a rear surface of the front surface portion321.

According to this embodiment, since the front surface portion 321 of thediffusion member 32 is entirely disposed between the front plate 31 andthe light guide plate 33, even if the light guide plate 33 is deformedby the heat, the light guide plate 33 may be prevented from being indirect contact with the front plate 31. Thus, it is possible to preventa dark area such as stains from occurring on the front plate 31.

The front surface portion 321 and the rear surface of the front plate 31may be coupled to each other by an adhesion portion 313. The adhesionportion 313 may include, for example, a sealant or a double-sided tape.

The side surface portions may extend backward from right and left sideends of the front surface portion 321 and may be formed to restrainright and left side ends of the light guide plate 33. The side surfaceportions may be spaced apart from at least one of both left and rightside surfaces of the light guide plate 33. When the light guide plate 33moves to left and right sides, the side surface portions may be incontact with at least one surface of both the left and right sidesurfaces to restrict the at least one surface. When it is consideredthat the light guide plate 33 is expanded by heat, the side surfaceportions may be spaced apart from at least one of the left and rightside surfaces of the light guide plate 33.

Each of the upper extension portion 322 and the lower extension portion324 extends backward from the front surface portion 321, and a length ofeach of the upper extension portion 322 and the lower extension portion324 is greater than a thickness of the light guide plate 33.

The diffusion member 32 may be made of a material for transmitting lighttherethrough and may be entirely formed by injection or extrusion as asingle component.

The diffusion member 32 may be made of a transparent or translucentmaterial as a whole. The diffusion member 32 itself may be provided tohave a color. Thus, when viewed from the front of the panel assembly 30,a color, texture, or shape of the front surface of the panel assembly 30may be determined by the diffusion member 32.

The diffusion member 32 may further include a light guide plate support326 supporting a bottom surface 333 of the light guide plate 33. Thelight guide plate support 326 may extend backward from the rear surfaceof the front surface portion 321 and may be disposed above the lowerextension portion 324 to be spaced apart from the lower extensionportion 324.

To stably support the load of the light guide plate 33, the diffusionmember 32 may include a plurality of light guide plate supports 326. Theplurality of light guide plate supports 326 may be disposed to be spacedapart from each other in the horizontal direction.

The lighting device 36 may be accommodated in the diffusion member 32.The diffusion member 32 may include a receiving groove 324 a (orreceiving portion) that receives a portion of the lighting device 36.

The receiving groove 324 a may be defined as a rear portion of the frontsurface portion 321 is recessed forward. Thus, the portion in which thereceiving groove 324 a is defined in the front surface portion 321 maybe thinner than other portions.

The receiving groove 324 a may be defined between the light guide platesupport 326 and the lower extension portion 324. Thus, when the lightingdevice 36 is received in the receiving groove 324 a, the lighting device36 may be disposed below the light guide plate support 326.

The lighting device 36 may include a substrate 361 and the light source362. The substrate 361 may be provided in a plate shape to be elongatedin the left and right direction.

The plurality of light sources 362 may be arranged at a constantinterval on the substrate 361. The light source 362 may be disposed toradiate light toward the bottom surface 333 of the light guide plate 33.That is, the bottom surface 333 of the light guide plate 33 is a lightentrance surface, and the front surface 331 of the light guide plate 33is the light emission surface.

The light source 362 may be disposed to emit light toward the lower endof the light guide plate 33.

The light source 362 may be disposed vertically below the bottom surface333 of the light guide plate 33, i.e., may be disposed to face thebottom surface 333 of the light guide plate 33.

The light source 362 may be provided as, for example, an LED. The lightsource 362 may be configured as an RGB LED capable of irradiating lightwith various colors according to a control of the controller 13, whichwill be described later. That is, the light source 362 may emit lightwith various colors under control of the controller 13 that will bedescribed later, and thus the front plate 31 may glow with color set bythe controller 13. A color of the front appearance of the refrigerator 1may be determined according to color of the front plate 31.

The light source 362 may include a light emitting diode (LED) foremitting light with specific color other than the RGB LED and mayinclude a combination of a plurality of LEDs for emitting light withdifferent colors. For example, the plurality of light sources 62 mayinclude red, green, and blue LEDs and may sequentially and repeatedlyarranged. Under control of the controller 13, operations of the lightsources 362 may be combined to cause the front plate 31 to glow withdesired color.

An interval between the light sources 362 may be smaller than the rightand left width of the light guide plate support 326, and thus the lightguide plate support 326 may be disposed between the light sources 362.Thus, the light emitted from the light source 362 may pass between twoadjacent light guide plate supports 326 and be irradiated to the bottomsurface 333 of the light guide plate 33.

The panel assembly 30 may further include a substrate supporter 37seated on the lower extension portion 324 of the diffusion member 32.

The substrate supporter 37 may support the substrate 361 while beingseated on the lower extension portion 324. A substrate supporter 37 maydissipate heat generated by the lighting device 36 by thermalconduction.

The substrate supporter 37 may be made of, for example, a metalmaterial. For example, the substrate supporter 37 may be made of analuminum material having high thermal conductivity. The substratesupporter 37 may be extruded with a metal material to have the samecross-sectional shape in the longitudinal direction.

A portion of the substrate supporter 37 may be received in the receivinggroove 324 a. The substrate supporter 37 may be in contact with the backcover 39 while the back cover 39 is assembled. Thus, the heat generatedby the lighting device 36 may be transferred toward the back cover 39through the substrate supporter 37 and may be dissipated through theback cover 39.

The panel assembly 30 may further include a rear supporter 34 supportingthe rear surface of the light guide plate 33. The rear supporter 34 maybe provided in a plate shape and may be attached to the rear surface ofthe light guide plate 33 by an adhesive.

The rear supporter 34 may be made of an opaque material through whichlight transmission is restricted. The rear supporter 34 may beaccommodated in the accommodation space 320a defined by the diffusionmember 32. The upper extension portion 322 may cover an upper side ofthe rear supporter 34, and the side portions 327 and 328 may cover boththe side surfaces of the rear supporter 34.

A bottom surface of the rear supporter 34 may be disposed above thesubstrate 361. For example, a bottom surface of the rear supporter 34may be seated on a top surface of the substrate 361.

In this case, the upward movement of the substrate 361 may be restrictedby the rear supporter 4, Since the bottom surface 333 of the light guideplate 33 is seated on the top surface of the light guide plate support226, a set interval may be maintained between the bottom surface of thelight guide plate 33 and the light source 362.

As described above, the lighting device 36 may be maintained in thefixed state, and a distance between the light guide plate 33 and thelight source 362 may also be maintained at a set distance, and thus, thelight irradiated from the light source 362 may be incident into thelight guide plate 33 at a designed angle. Thus, the light irradiatedfrom the light source 362 may be effectively irradiated toward the lightguide plate 33, and the light reflected through the light guide plate 33may allow the front plate 31 to glow with set brightness.

In another aspect, the rear supporter 34 may be seated on the lightguide plate support 326.

The rear supporter 34 may include an opening 342 through which a portionof the back cover 39 passes.

The back cover 39 may include a cover body 391 and a bent portionextending from an edge of the cover body 391 in the horizontaldirection.

The cover body 391 may be in contact with the rear surface of the rearsupporter 34. The cover body 391 may be attached to the rear supporter34 by the adhesive or may be coupled to the rear supporter 34 by acoupling member such as a screw.

The bent portion may extend forward from the edge of the cover body 391and may include an upper bent portion 393, a lower bent portion 396, anda pair of side bent portions. The bent portion may be in contact withthe diffusion member 32. For example, the bent portion may adhere to theextension portion of the diffusion member 32 by the adhesive.

For example, the upper bent portion 393 may be seated in an upperseating groove 323 having a recessed shape defined in the upperextension portion 322 of the diffusion member 32.

The lower bent portion 396 may be in contact with a bottom surface ofthe lower extension portion 324 of the diffusion member 32. The sidebent portions may be seated in the recessed side seating grooves definedin the side extension portions.

In this embodiment, since the diffusion member 32 supports the lightguide plate 33 and fixes a position of the light guide plate 33. and theback cover 39 is coupled to surround a portion of the diffusion member32, the number of components of the panel assembly 30 itself may bereduced to reduce a thickness of the panel assembly in the front andrear direction.

The cover body 391 may further include a pressing portion 392 benttoward the light guide plate 33. The pressing portion 392 may passthrough the opening 342 of the rear supporter 34 so as to be in contactwith the rear surface of the light guide plate

In this embodiment, the cover body 391 may press the rear supporter 34toward the rear surface side of the light guide plate 33 while being incontact with the rear surface of the rear supporter 34, and the pressingportion 392 may directly press the light guide plate 33.

The receiving groove 324 a may be defined at a position equal to orlower than that of the bottom surface 311 of the front plate 31. Thatis, a portion of the front surface portion 321 may extend furtherdownward than the bottom surface 311 of the front plate 31.

The diffusion member 32 may diffuse the light irradiated from the lightemission surface of the light guide plate 33. Since a portion of thediffusion member 32 is disposed lower than the bottom surface 311 of thefront plate 31, there is a possibility that the light passing throughthe diffusion member 32 is directly irradiated to the outside withoutpassing through the front plate 31. To prevent this phenomenon, thepanel assembly 30 according to this embodiment may further include alower trim 35.

The lower trim 35 may be coupled to the diffusion member 32 by acoupling means such as an adhesion portion or a hook.

The lower trim 35 may include a first portion 351 extending in thevertical direction and a second portion 352 extending in the horizontaldirection from a lower end of the first portion 351.

At least the first portion 351 may be provided to be transparent ortranslucent and, as necessary, may be provided with a specific color.

The first portion 351 may cover a portion of the diffusion member 32extending downward from the bottom surface 311 of the front plate 31.For example, the first portion 351 may be disposed to face the receivinggroove 324 a in front of the receiving groove 324 a in the diffusionmember 32.

The second portion 352 may support the lower extension portion 324. Thesecond portion 352 may include a seating groove 353 for seating thelower bent portion 396 of the back cover 39.

FIG. 6 is a vertical cross-sectional view showing a light emitting stateof the panel assembly. FIG. 7 is a block diagram illustrating a flow ofa control signal of the refrigerator. FIG. 8 is a view illustrating astate in which all doors glow in a refrigerator. FIG. 9 is a viewillustrating a state in which some doors of a plurality of doors glow.

Referring to FIGS. 6 to 9 , in the refrigerator 1 according to anembodiment of the present disclosure, a front surface of the door 20 mayglow via an operation of the lighting device 36.

The front surface of the door 20 may glow with any one of a plurality ofcolors under control of the controller 13.

The operation of the lighting device 36 may be performed by manipulationof a manipulator 14 of a user. The manipulator 14 may be disposed at oneside of the refrigerator 1, and for example, may be disposed at one sideof the cabinet 10. Needless to say, as necessary, the manipulator 14 maybe included in the door 20 or manipulation may be input by touching andmanipulating the front plate 31. That is, the user may directlymanipulate the manipulator 14 to set an operation of the lighting device36 and may turn on or off the lighting device 36.

The user may set an operation state of the lighting device 36, such asan operation time and an operation condition of the lighting device 36and emission color of the light source 362 through manipulation of themanipulator 14.

Various commands related to an operation of the refrigerator may beinput through manipulation of the manipulator 14.

As necessary, the manipulator 14 may be configured as a display forinformation display and manipulation.

The lighting device 36 may also be manipulated in operation and set inoperation condition through a remote device 2 spaced apart from therefrigerator 1. The refrigerator 1 may communicate with the remotedevice 2 through a communicator 17 connected to a controller 13, and theuser may control an operation of the lighting device 36 through theremote device 2.

The communicator 17 may communicate with the remote device 2 and/or aserver for managing the home appliance using various methods.

For example, the communicator 17 may have a configuration forcommunication using at least one method of wired, wireless, or shortdistance communication (Bluetooth, Wi-Fi, Zigbee, and NFC). The remotedevice 2 may be various devices that are capable of communicating, suchas a dedicated terminal, a mobile phone, a tablet, a portable PC, adesktop PC, a remote control, or a Bluetooth speaker.

The user may manipulate and set the operation state of the lightingdevice 36, such as an operation time and an operation condition of thelighting device 36 and emission color through manipulation of the remotedevice 2, For example, the lighting device 36 may be simply manipulatedand set through an application or a dedicated program installed in aportable phone of the user.

The communicator 17 may receive information about the current timethrough the remote device 2 or the server. The received current timeinformation may be stored in a memory 18, and the controller 13 mayrecognize the current time in real time.

The refrigerator 1 may further include a timer 16. The timer 16 maycount an elapsed time after a specific event occurs. For example, therefrigerator 1 may receive information about the current time throughthe communicator 17, and when communication failure of the communicator17 is recognized (when a specific event occurs), the timer 16 mayoperate. In this case, in consideration of the time counted by the timer16, the refrigerator 1 may indirectly recognize the current time. Then,when communication failure of the communicator 17 is released, the timer16 may be stopped, and information on the current time determined basedon the timer 16 may be changed to information about the current timereceived from the communicator 17.

The lighting device 36 may also be operated according to the detectionresult by a sensor 15.

The sensor may include a user detection sensor 151 for detectingproximity of the user. For example, the user detection sensor 151 mayuse various devices for detecting user approaching near therefrigerator, such as an infrared sensor, an ultrasonic sensor, or alaser sensor.

The user detection sensor 151 may be disposed at various positions fordetecting proximity of the user, such as one side of the cabinet 10 orone side of the door 20, and may be disposed at various positions fordetecting proximity of the user. A plurality of sensors may be disposedat different positions.

Thus, when the user approaches the refrigerator 1 by a referencedistance for use of the refrigerator 1, the user detection sensor 151may detect this and may transfer a signal to the controller 13 to turnon the lighting device 36. When the user moves away from therefrigerator 1, the user detection sensor 151 may detect this and maytransfer a signal to the controller 13 to turn off the lighting device36.

When the user detection sensor 151 is provided in the cabinet 10, theuser detection sensor 151 may be located on a front surface of thecabinet 10 corresponding to a space between an upper door and a lowerdoor. Since the upper door and the lower door are spaced apart, theremay be a gap between the upper door and the lower door. Accordingly,when the user detection sensor 151 is disposed at a positioncorresponding to the gap, the user may be capable of approaching theuser detection sensor 151.

The sensor 15 may further include an illuminance sensor 152. Theilluminance sensor 152 may detect an illuminance around the refrigerator1. The illuminance sensor 152 may be provided in the cabinet 10 or thedoor 20.

The refrigerator 1 may further include a motion sensor 19. The motionsensor 19 may detect a movement of a person, an object, an animal, etc.on the floor on which the refrigerator 1 is installed.

The motion sensor 19 may be installed in the lower door or installed ata lower position than the lower door in the cabinet 10. Needless to say,it may also be possible that the motion sensor 19 is installed in theupper door, however, it may be arranged to detect a motion on the floorin the upper door.

The operation state of the lighting device operated by the controller isnow described. As shown in FIG. 6 , when the lighting device 36 isturned on according to an instruction of the controller 13, lightemitted from the light source 362 may be directed toward the bottomsurface 333 of the light guide plate 33 and then guided along the lightguide plate 33.

In this case, the light guided by the light guide plate 33 may passthrough the light emission surface and be diffused while passing throughthe front surface portion 321, and then, may pass through the frontplate 31 and be transmitted to the outside. Thus, the entire front plate31 may brightly glow, and the front surface of the door 20 may glow witha set brightness or color.

The lighting device 36 may be turned on to cause the front surface ofthe door 20 to glow brightly, and the front surface of the door 20 mayglow with set color by light emitted from the light source 362. In thiscase, the front color of the door 20 may be different color orbrightness from in the state in which the lighting device 36 is turnedoff.

That is, a color of the front surface of the door 20 may be seen as acolor of the front plate 31, and the texture and pattern disposed on thefront plate 31 may be seen. In this case, the color of the front plate31 may be color with a brightness greater than 0 and may be formed in acolor other than black. The color of the front surface of the door 20 inthe state in which the lighting device 36 is turned may also be referredto as a first color.

Thus, the front surface of the door 20 may be seen with color of thefront plate 31, and in this case, components inside the panel assembly30 may be seen through the front plate 31 and may not be seen to theoutside by the color of the front plate 31.

In this state, the lighting device 36 may be turned on, and when thelighting device 36 is turned on, the front surface of the door 20 mayglow with color set by the controller 13.

The controller 13 may control the front surface of the door 20 to glowwith a second color different from the first color. The controller 13may control the light source 362 to glow with the second color.

In this case, color emitted from the light source 362 may be differentfrom the second color. That is, since the front plate 31 includes firstcolor, if light of the second color is emitted from the light source362, the light may interact with the first color while passing throughthe front plate 31 to actually glow with a third color.

Accordingly, in the present embodiment, control of the light source 362to allow the door 20 to glow with a specific color may mean control ofcolor emitted from the light source 362 in consideration of the coloritself of the front plate 31.

That is, in the state in which the light source 362 is turned on, colorwith which the door 20 glows may be color formed by mixing color itselfof the front plate 31 and color of light emitted from the light source362.

Some of the plurality of doors 20 forming the front appearance of therefrigerator 1 may emit light or the plurality of doors 20 mayindependently emit light to form the front appearance of therefrigerator 1 with set color.

The refrigerator 1 may be operated to cause some doors 20 of a pluralityof doors to glow or glow with specific color. That is, all the lightingdevices 36 included in the doors 20 may not be operated, but instead,only some of all the doors 20 may glow. For example, any one door 201aof the refrigerating compartment door 201 may glow.

As necessary, the left refrigerating compartment door 201a and the rightrefrigerating compartment door 201b may glow with different colors. Atleast two of the doors 20 may be sequentially changed in color and atleast two of the doors 20 may be sequentially turned on or off.

In this case, the lighting device 36 included in the panel assembly 30may be controlled by the controller 13 according to the aforementionedvarious conditions.

The refrigerating compartment door or the freezing compartment dooramong the doors may be controlled to glow with different colors.

The controller 13 may control the lighting device 36 to cause one pairof the refrigerating compartment doors 201 to be seen with the firstcolor. The controller13 may control the lighting device 36 to cause onepair of the refrigerating compartment doors 201 to be seen with thesecond color.

That is, the refrigerating compartment door 201 and the freezingcompartment door 202 may be distinguished therebetween with colors, andaccording to a temperature change inside the refrigerator, the colors ofthe refrigerating compartment door 201 and the freezing compartment door202 may also be changed.

Thus, through the front color of the door 20, the user may intuitivelyrecognize an operation state of each storage space as well as maydistinguish between the refrigeration compartment and the freezingcompartment.

Hereinafter, a detailed operation control of the lighting device 36 willbe described.

For convenience of description, in the refrigerator, the upper two doorsare referred to as a first door and a second door, and the two doorsbelow the first door and the second door are referred to as a third doorand a fourth door.

In the case of the upper first door and second door, the light source362 may be located at a lower side of each of the first door and thesecond door. In the case of the lower third door and fourth door, thelight source 362 may be positioned at an upper side of each of the thirddoor and the fourth door. Needless to say, it may also be possible thatthe light source 362 is located at a lower side of each of the thirddoor and the fourth door.

In addition, with respect to operation control of the lighting device 36described below, the present disclosure is not limited to theconfiguration of the panel assembly described above. That is, at leastone of a plurality of components configuring the panel assembly may beomitted, at least one of a plurality of components may be replaced withanother component, or the location of at least one component among aplurality of components may be changed.

In the present specification, a state change of the light source 362 mayinclude one or more of a case in which the light source 362 is changedfrom an off state to an on state, a case in which the light source 362is changed from an on state to an off state, a case in which one or moreLEDs are turned on in a state in which the light source 362 is turnedoff, a case in which the light source 362 is turned off in a state inwhich one or more LEDs are turned on, a case in which brightness oflight emitted from the light source 362 is changed in a state in whichthe light source 362 is turned on, a case in which the brightness orcolor of light emitted from some of a plurality of LEDs is changed in astate in which the light source 362 is turned on, the number of LEDlights is changed an increase in the number of LED lights or a decreasein the number of LED lights), and a case in which color of light emittedfrom the light source 362 is changed in a state in which the lightsource 362 is turned on.

The state in which the light source 362 is turned on may mean a state inwhich all of a plurality of LEDs are turned on, and the state in whichthe light source 362 is turned off may mean a state in which all of theplurality of LEDs are turned off.

FIG. 10 is a flowchart for explaining a control method of differentlysetting a reference distance according to illuminance according to thepresent embodiment.

Referring to FIGS. 7 and 10 , the illuminance sensor 152 mayperiodically detect the illuminance around the refrigerator 1 (S1).

The controller 13 may operate the mode of the refrigerator 1 as a firstmode or the second mode according to the illuminance value detected bythe illuminance sensor 152.

The controller 13 may determine whether the refrigerator 1 needs to beoperated in the first mode according to the illuminance value detectedby the illuminance sensor 152 (S2).

The controller 13 may operate the refrigerator 1 in the first mode whenthe illuminance value is greater than a reference illuminance value.

In the first mode, a reference distance for user proximity detection maybe set to a first reference distance (S3).

In the state in which the first reference distance is set, when a useris detected to approach the refrigerator within the first referencedistance by the user detection sensor 151, the controller 13 may controlthe light source 362 of one or more doors among a plurality of doors tochange from the first state to the second state (S5).

On the other hand, as the determination result of operation S2, when therefrigerator 1 may not need to operate in the first mode, it may bedetermined that the refrigerator 1 needs to be operate in the secondmode. That is, when the illuminance value is smaller than the referenceilluminance value, the controller 13 may operate the refrigerator 1 inthe second mode.

In the second mode, a reference distance for user proximity detectionmay be set as a second reference distance (S6).

That is, in the present embodiment, the reference distance may bevariably set based on the illuminance sensed by the illuminance sensor152.

In the state in which the second reference distance is set, when theuser is detected to approach within the second reference distance by theuser detection sensor 151, the controller 13 may control the lightsource 362 of one or more doors among a plurality of doors to changefrom the first state to the second state (S8).

For example, in operations 35 and S8, a state change of the light sourcemay include a state in which the light source 362 of some of a pluralityof doors are turned on or a state in which the light source 362 of eachof a plurality of doors is turned off.

In the present embodiment, the second reference distance may be greaterthan the first reference distance.

The case in which the refrigerator operates in the second mode may bethe case in which the illuminance around the refrigerator 1 is low. Inthis case, when the user approaches the refrigerator 1, the referencedistance may be set as a second reference distance in order for the userto easily recognize the location of the refrigerator 1 from a distance.

When illuminance is low, the user may recognize the refrigerator onlywhen the user approaches the refrigerator, and there is a risk that theuser collides with a nearby object while approaching the refrigerator.

When illuminance is low, even if the user approaches the refrigerator 1within the first reference distance, there may be a possibility that theuser does not recognize the refrigerator 1. Therefore, as in the presentdisclosure, when the second reference distance greater than the firstreference distance is set if illuminance is low, the user may easilyrecognize the refrigerator even at a location far away from therefrigerator, and thus the user may easily recognize the refrigerator,thereby preventing the user from colliding with a nearby object during aprocess of approaching the refrigerator.

As such, when the user approaches the refrigerator 1 within the secondreference distance in the second mode, the light source 362 may beturned on, and thus the refrigerator may serve as a lighting.

When the refrigerator 1 serves as a lighting, the user may easilyapproach the refrigerator 1 as well as easily recognize an object aroundthe refrigerator 1.

In contrast, the case in which the refrigerator operates in the firstmode may be the case in which illuminance around the refrigerator 1 ishigh.

In this case, when the user approaches the refrigerator 1, there is ahigh possibility that the user recognizes the refrigerator even if adistance between the user and the refrigerator is the second referencedistance.

Accordingly, in this case, the light source 362 may be turned on whenthe user approaches the first reference distance by setting the firstreference distance smaller than the second reference distance.Accordingly, by reducing a time when the light source 362 is turned on,power consumption may be reduced. Also, it is possible to reducefrequent turning on of the light source 362.

In the first mode, when the user approaches the refrigerator 1 withinthe first reference distance and the light source 362 is turned on, therefrigerator 1 may change the user's mood as well as simply store food,the refrigerator 1 may serve as interior furniture.

Depending on the user's preference, the user may not want to change thestate of the light source 362 when approaching the refrigerator.Accordingly, a function of changing the state of the light source 362according to approach of the user may be set or release by userselection. For example, the user may set or release the function usingthe manipulator 14. Alternatively, the function may be set or releasedthrough the remote device 2.

If the brightness of light is the same when the light source 362 isturned on in each of the first mode and the second mode regardless ofthe illuminance, when the light source 362 is turned on in the secondmode, light of the light source 362 may make a user feel glare.

Therefore, the brightness of light of the light source 362 when thelight source 362 is on in the second mode may be smaller than thebrightness of light of the light source 362 when the light source 362 ison in the first mode.

In the first mode, after the state of the light source 362 is changed,if a user is not detected within the first reference distance, the stateof the light source 362 may be changed to a previous state. For example,the light source 362 may be turned off after being turned on.

In the second mode, after the state of the light source 362 is changed,if a user is not detected within the second reference distance, thestate of the light source 362 may be changed to a previous state. Forexample, the light source 362 may be turned off after being turned on.

The first reference distance and the second reference distance may beset by a user. For example, the user may set or change each of the firstreference distance and the second reference distance through themanipulator 14. Alternatively, each of the first reference distance andthe second reference distance may be set or changed through the remotedevice 2, and the set or changed information may be received by thecommunicator 17 and stored in the memory 18.

However, a changeable reference distance range may be preset, and theuser may select the first reference distance and the second referencedistance within the corresponding range.

In another example, when the user selects a button such as “Registercurrent distance” using a remote device while standing at a desiredposition, an actual distance from the refrigerator to the user may beset as a reference distance.

The reference illuminance value may also be set by a user. For example,the user may set and change the reference illuminance value through themanipulator 14. Alternatively, the reference illuminance value may beset and changed through the remote device 2, and the set and changedinformation may be received by the communicator 17 and stored in thememory 18.

However, a range of the changeable reference illuminance value may bepreset, and the user may select the reference illuminance value withinthe corresponding range.

According to another embodiment, the reference distance may vary basedon the current time. When the current time satisfies a first time rangeto be described later, the reference distance may be set as a firstreference distance. On the other hand, when the current time satisfies asecond time range to be described later, the reference distance may beset as a second reference distance. That is, step S1 in FIG. 10 may bechanged to a step of recognizing the current time.

In another example, the reference distance may also be variably setbased on the current time and the detected illuminance value.

FIG. 11 is a flowchart for explaining a method of setting an operationmode according to illuminance and current time according to the presentembodiment.

Referring to FIGS. 7 and 11 , as described above, the controller 13 mayrecognize the current time.

The controller 13 may set an operation mode of the refrigerator 1 basedon the illuminance value and current time detected by the illuminancesensor 152.

For example, the illuminance sensor 152 may continuously or periodicallydetect an illuminance around the refrigerator 1 (S11).

When the current time satisfies a first time range and the detectedilluminance value satisfies a first illuminance range (S12), thecontroller 13 may set an operation mode of the refrigerator 1 to a firstoperation mode (S16).

The first time range may be set, for example, in the range of 6 am to 6pm. The first illuminance range may be set to a range greater than orequal to the reference illuminance value.

For example, the first operation mode may be set when the illuminancearound the refrigerator 1 is high in the daytime.

When the current time satisfies a first time range and the detectedilluminance value satisfies a second illuminance range (S13), thecontroller 13 may set an operation mode of the refrigerator 1 to asecond operation mode (S17).

The second illuminance range may be set to a range less than thereference illuminance value.

For example, the second operation mode may be set hen the illuminancearound the refrigerator 1 is low in the daytime.

When the current time satisfies a second time range and the detectedilluminance value satisfies the first illuminance range (S14), thecontroller 13 may set an operation mode of the refrigerator 1 to a thirdoperation mode (S18).

The second time range may be set, for example, in the range of 6 pm to 6am. The first time range and the second time range may be set or changedby a user.

For example, the third operation mode may be set when the illuminancearound the refrigerator 1 is high in the evening.

When the current time satisfies a second time range and the detectedilluminance value satisfies the second illuminance range (S15), thecontroller 13 may set an operation mode of the refrigerator 1 to afourth operation mode (S19).

For example, the fourth operation mode may be set when the illuminancearound the refrigerator 1 is low in the evening.

The controller 13 may control the refrigerator 1 in the set operationmode.

In the first operation mode, when the light source 362 is turned on in aspecific door, the brightness of light emitted from the light source 362may be set to a first value.

In the second operation mode, when the light source 362 is turned on ina specific door, the brightness of light emitted from the light source362 may be set to a second value, The second value may be smaller thanthe first value. Although not limited, the second value may be 50% ofthe first value.

In the third operation mode, when the light source 362 is turned on in aspecific door, the brightness of light emitted from the light source 362may be set to a third value. In this case, the third value may be equalto or smaller than the first value.

In the fourth operation mode, when the light source 362 is turned on ina specific door, the brightness of light emitted from the light source362 may be set to a fourth value. In this case, the fourth value may besmaller than the second value and the third value. The fourth value maybe 25% of the first value.

In another example, in the first operation mode, when the light source362 is turned on in specific door, the number of LEDs that are turned onmay be set to a first number.

In the second operation mode, when the light source 362 of a specificdoor is turned on the number of LEDs that are turned on may be set to asecond number. The second number may be smaller than the first number.Although not limited, the second number may be 50% of the first number.

In the third operation mode, when the light source 362 of a specificdoor is turned on, the number of LEDs that are turned on may be set to athird number. The third number may be equal to or smaller than the firstnumber.

In the fourth operation mode, when the light source 362 of a specificdoor is turned on, the number of LEDs that are turned on may be set to afourth number. The fourth number may be smaller than the second numberand the third number. Although not limited, the fourth number may be 25%of the first number.

The above-mentioned values for the brightness and the number of LEDsthat are turned on may be manually set and changed by a user.

According to the present embodiment, if the illuminance is low even inthe daytime, the brightness of light may be set to be large when thelight source 362 is turned on, and if the illuminance is high even inthe night, the brightness of light may be set to be small when the lightsource 362 is turned on.

FIG. 12 is a flowchart for explaining a method of controlling arefrigerator during an operation in a first operation mode or a secondoperation mode, FIG. 13 is a flowchart for explaining a method ofcontrolling a refrigerator during an operation in a third operation modeor a fourth operation mode.

FIGS. 12 and 13 illustrate an example of setting a reference distancebased on a current time.

First, referring to FIG. 12 , the refrigerator 1 may be operated in afirst operation mode or a second operation mode within the first timerange (e.g., daytime) (S21).

In the first operation mode or the second operation mode, the referencedistance may be set to the first reference distance.

The controller 13 may determine whether the user is detected to approachthe refrigerator within the first reference distance by the userdetection sensor 151 (S22).

When determining that the user approaches the refrigerator within thefirst reference distance, the controller 13 may control the light source362 of each of the plurality of doors to be changed from the first stateto the second state (S23). For example, the light source 362 of each ofthe plurality of doors may be turned on.

The color of light emitted from the light source 362 when the lightsource 362 is turned on may be manually set and changed by the user.

In the state in which the light source 362 is turned on, when it isdetermined that the user is detected to approach the refrigerator withinthe first reference distance, the color of the light source 362 may bechanged. For example, while the light source 362 is turned on to emitlight with first color, if it is determined that the user is detected toapproach the refrigerator within the first reference distance, the colorof light emitted from the light source 362 may be changed to secondcolor.

As described above, the brightness of light of the light source 362 inthe first operation mode may be different from the brightness of lightof the light source 362 in the second operation mode.

In the first time range, even when the light source 362 of each of theplurality of doors is turned on, the user does not feel glare, and theentire refrigerator may serve as a lighting or interior furniture.

Hereinafter, referring to FIG. 13 , the refrigerator 1 may be operatedin a third operation mode or a fourth operation mode within the secondtime range (e.g., daytime) (S31).

In the third operation mode or the fourth operation mode, the referencedistance may be set to the first reference distance.

The controller 13 may determine whether the user is detected to approachthe refrigerator within the second reference distance by the userdetection sensor 151 (S32).

When determining that the user approaches the refrigerator within thesecond reference distance, the controller 13 may control the lightsource 362 of some of the plurality of doors to be changed from thefirst state to the second state (S33).

For example, the light source 362 of a lower door of the plurality ofdoors may be turned on. The color of light emitted from the light source362 when the light source 362 is turned on may be manually set andchanged by the user.

Generally, when an adult approaches the refrigerator 1, the eyes of theadult may be positioned higher than the lower door. If the userapproaches the refrigerator 1 within the second reference distance andthe light source of the upper door may be turned on, the user may feelglare.

On the other hand, according to the present embodiment, when the userapproaches the refrigerator within the second reference distance and thelight source of the lower door is turned on, the lower door may act asan indirect lighting while the user does not feel glare.

After the user is detected to approach the refrigerator within thesecond reference distance, the controller 13 may determine whether theuser is detected to approach the refrigerator within the third referencedistance by the sensor 15 (S34).

The third reference distance may be smaller than the second referencedistance.

When determining that the user is detected to approach the refrigeratorwithin the third reference distance, the controller 13 may control thelight source 362 of the remaining doors of the plurality of doors to bechanged from the first state to the second state (S35).

When the user is detected to approach the refrigerator within the thirdreference distance after the light source 362 of the lower door isturned on, the light source 362 of the upper door may be additionallyturned on.

As described above, the brightness of light of the light source 362 inthe third operation mode may be different from the brightness of lightof the light source 362 in the fourth operation mode.

After the light source 362 of each of the plurality of doors is changedfrom the first state to the second state, when the user is not detectedto approach the refrigerator within the second reference distance (whenthe user is farther away from the refrigerator than the second referencedistance), the controller 13 may control the light source 362 to bechanged to a previous state.

In another example, when the reference distance is to be changed basedon the sensed illuminance value, operation S21 in FIG. 12 may bereplaced with an operation performed in the first operation mode or thethird operation mode, In addition, operation S31 in FIG. 13 may bereplaced with a step performed in the second operation mode or thefourth operation mode.

FIG. 14 is a diagram for explaining a method of controlling arefrigerator according to motion detection of a motion sensor when therefrigerator operates in the third operation mode or the fourthoperation mode.

Referring to FIG. 14 , the refrigerator 1 may operate in the thirdoperation mode or fourth operation mode described with reference to FIG.13 .

In this state, the motion sensor 19 may detect a motion of a person, anobject, an animal, or the like around the refrigerator 1.

The controller 13 may determine whether or not a set number of movementsor more are detected by the motion sensor 19 (S42).

As the result of determination in operation S42, if it is determinedthat a movement of more than the set number of times is detected by themotion sensor 19, the controller 13 may control the light source of someof the plurality of doors to be changed from the first state to thesecond state during a set time (S43).

A case in which the motion sensor 19 detects a movement more than theset number of times may be, for example, a case in which a petfrequently moves around the refrigerator. In this case, the light sourceof at least one door among the plurality of doors may be turned on insuch a way that the refrigerator is capable of serving as a lighting.

In this case, even if the user does not approach the refrigerator withinthe second reference distance, the refrigerator may serve as an indirectlighting, and the light source of the lower door may be turned on tominimize fatigue of the eyes of the user.

After the light source of at least one door among the plurality of doorsis changed from the first state to the second state for a set time, thelight source 362 may be changed to a previous state. That is, the lightsource 362 that is turned on may be turned off.

In the present specification, when the user approaches the refrigeratorwithin the reference distance, the state of the light source may bechanged, and the reference distance for user detection may be changedbased on the detected illuminance value.

When the illuminance value is low, if the reference distance isincreased, the user may easily recognize a home appliance from adistance, thereby preventing the user from colliding with structuresaround the refrigerator while the user approaches the refrigerator.

In the present specification, according to the illuminance, the doorcapable of emitting light among the plurality of doors may bechangeable. As in one embodiment, when the light source of the lowerdoor is turned on if the illuminance is low and a time zone is night, itmay be possible to prevent the user from feeling glare and the homeappliance may advantageously serve as an indirect lighting,

What is claimed is:
 1. A home appliance comprising: a cabinet thatdefines a storage space; a door configured to open and dose the storagespace, the door including a light source; an illuminance sensor disposedat the cabinet or the door and configured to detect an illuminancearound the home appliance; a user detection sensor disposed at thecabinet or the door and configured to detect a proximity of a user fromthe home appliance; and a controller configured to control the lightsource of the door based on information detected by the user detectionsensor, wherein the controller is configured to: set a referencedistance based on at least one of the illuminance detected by theilluminance sensor or a current time, and control the light source ofthe door to change from a first state to a second state based on theuser detection sensor detecting the user within the reference distance.2. The home appliance of claim 1, wherein the controller is configuredto: based on an illuminance value detected by the illuminance sensorbeing greater than or equal to a reference illuminance value, set afirst reference distance as the reference distance; and based on theilluminance value detected by the illuminance sensor being less than thereference illuminance value, set a second reference distance as thereference distance, the second reference distance being greater than thefirst reference distance.
 3. The home appliance of claim 2, furthercomprising a non-transitory memory configured to store the referenceilluminance value, wherein the home appliance is configured to: allowthe user to set, from the home appliance, the reference illuminancevalue, or receive the reference illuminance value that is set from aremote device.
 4. The home appliance of claim 1, wherein the controlleris configured to: based on the current time corresponding to a firsttime range, set a first reference distance as the reference distance;and based on the current time corresponding to a second time range, seta second reference distance as the reference distance, the secondreference distance being greater than the first reference distance. 5.The home appliance of claim 1, wherein the controller is configured todetermine an operation mode of the home appliance based on the currenttime and the illuminance detected by the illuminance sensor.
 6. The homeappliance of claim 5, wherein the light source includes a plurality oflight emitting diodes (LEDs), and wherein the controller is configuredto: based on (i) the current time corresponding to a first time rangeand (ii) an illuminance value detected by the illuminance sensorcorresponding to a first illuminance range, set the operation mode ofthe home appliance to a first operation mode; based on setting the firstoperation mode, control the light source to emit light with a firstbrightness value or turn on a first number of LEDs among the pluralityof LEDs; based on (i) the current time corresponding to the first timerange and (ii) the illuminance value corresponding to a secondilluminance range, set the operation mode of the home appliance to asecond operation mode; and based on setting the second operation mode,control the light source to emit light with a second brightness value orturn on a second number of LEDs among the plurality of LEDs.
 7. The homeappliance of claim 6, wherein an illuminance value in the secondilluminance range is less than an illuminance value in the firstilluminance range, and wherein the second brightness value is less thanthe first brightness value, and the second number is less than the firstnumber.
 8. The home appliance of claim 6, wherein the controller isconfigured to: based on (i) the current time corresponding to a secondtime range and (ii) the illuminance value corresponding to the firstilluminance range, set the operation mode of the home appliance to athird operation mode; based on setting the third operation mode, controlthe light source to emit light with a third brightness value or turn ona third number of LEDs among the plurality of LEDs; based on (i) thecurrent time corresponding to the second time range and (ii) theilluminance value corresponding to the second illuminance range, set theoperation mode of the home appliance to a fourth operation mode; andbased on setting the fourth operation mode, control the light source toemit light with a fourth brightness value or turn on a fourth number ofLEDs among the plurality of LEDs.
 9. The home appliance of claim 8,wherein the third brightness value is less than or equal to the firstbrightness value, and wherein the fourth brightness value is less thanthe second brightness value and the third brightness value.
 10. The homeappliance of claim 8, wherein the third number is less than or equal tothe first number, and the fourth number is less than the second numberand the third number.
 11. The home appliance of claim 8, furthercomprising a non-transitory memory configured to store a plurality ofnumbers of LEDs to be turned on or a plurality of brightness values oflight to be emitted from the light source, wherein the home appliance isconfigured to: allow the user to set, from the home appliance, theplurality of numbers of LEDs or the plurality of brightness values, orreceive the plurality of numbers of LEDs or the plurality of brightnessvalues that are set from a remote device.
 12. The home appliance ofclaim 6, wherein the door includes a plurality of doors, each of theplurality of doors including a light source, and wherein the controlleris configured to, based on (I) the current time corresponding to thefirst time range or the illuminance value corresponding to the firstilluminance range and (ii) the user detection sensor detecting the userwithin a first reference distance from the home appliance, control thelight source of each of the plurality of doors to change from the firststate to the second state.
 13. The home appliance of claim 12, whereinthe controller is configured to, based on (i) the light source of eachof the plurality of doors being changed from the first state to thesecond state and (ii) the user detection sensor no longer detecting theuser within the first reference distance from the home appliance,control the light source of each of the plurality of doors to return tothe first state.
 14. The home appliance of claim 8, wherein the doorincludes a plurality of doors, each of the plurality of doors includinga light source, wherein the controller is configured to, based on (i)the current time corresponding to the second time range or theilluminance value corresponding to the second illuminance range and (ii)the user detection sensor detecting the user within a second referencedistance from the home appliance, control the light source of at leastone of the plurality of doors to change from the first state to thesecond state.
 15. The home appliance of claim 14, wherein the controlleris configured to, based on (i) the light source of the at least one ofthe plurality of doors being changed from the first state to the secondstate and (ii) the user detection sensor detecting the user within athird reference distance from the home appliance, control the lightsource of a remaining door of the plurality of doors to change from thefirst state to the second state, the third reference distance being lessthan the second reference distance.
 16. The home appliance of claim 14,wherein the plurality of doors include an upper door and a lower door,and wherein the controller is configured to, based on (i) the lightsource of the lower door being changed from the first state to thesecond state and (ii) the user detection sensor detecting the userwithin a third reference distance from the home appliance, control thelight source of the upper door to change from the first state to thesecond state, the third reference distance being less than the secondreference distance.
 17. The home appliance of claim 15, wherein thecontroller is configured to, based on (i) the light source of each ofthe plurality of doors being changed from the first state to the secondstate and (ii) the user detection sensor o longer detecting the userwithin the second reference distance from the home appliance, controlthe light source of each of the plurality of doors to return to thefirst state.
 18. The home appliance of claim 1, further comprising amotion sensor configured to detect movement of an object on a floor thatsupports the cabinet, wherein the controller is configured to: obtain anilluminance value detected by the illuminance sensor; determine a numberof detection times that the motion sensor detects the movement of theobject; and based on (i) the illuminance value being less than areference illuminance value and (ii) the number of detection times beinggreater than a set number, control the light source to change from thefirst state to the second state for a set time.
 19. The home applianceof claim 1, wherein the first state is an off state of the light source,and the second state is an on state of the light source.
 20. The homeappliance of claim 1, wherein the light source is configured to: basedon operating in the first state, emit light in a first color; and basedon operating in the second state, emit light in a second color.
 21. Arefrigerator comprising: a cabinet that defines a storage space; aplurality of doors configured to open and close the storage space, atleast one of the plurality of doors including a light source; anilluminance sensor configured to detect an illuminance around therefrigerator; a user detection sensor configured to detect a proximityof a user from the refrigerator; and a controller configured to controlthe light source based on information detected by the user detectionsensor, wherein the controller is configured to: set a referencedistance based on the illuminance detected by the illuminance sensor,and control the light source to change from a first state to a secondstate based on the user detection sensor detecting the user within thereference distance.